REI faced backlash after an Instagram ad showed a Van Rysel bike with two sets of handlebars, with one Reddit post calling it “AI slop” and questioning the retailer's environmental commitments, according to Business Insider. REI blamed a Meta AI personalization tool, saying Meta “auto-enrolled” it in the feature, which produced an inaccurate alteration of a vendor-provided image, and that it has since unenrolled. Van Rysel confirmed the original image came from its own photo shoot and that it made no later alterations, while Meta declined to comment but its terms warn that AI-generated ad outputs may be inaccurate or inappropriate and that advertisers are responsible for reviewing them. REI isn't the first advertiser to report bizarre results from Meta's AI tools, with others previously saying auto-adjustment settings had been toggled on without their clear consent.
